


slip

by cinnamuntoast (fernic)



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M, broken toes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-01-15
Packaged: 2018-09-16 22:24:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9292085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fernic/pseuds/cinnamuntoast
Summary: There’s bruising already formed, light blue on the front of his foot right before his little toe that seeps to a dark purple on his fourth toe. His pinkie is curled up and swollen and practically black, and Hinata pulls again at his foot.“Kageyama, let go, I’mfine-”“This isn’t fine, this is broken, Hinata,” Kageyama says.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! Remember when i got my wisdom teeth taken out and wrote about it?
> 
> Well guess who broke their fucking pinkie toe!!!

Hinata is clumsy, and everyone knows it.

It's a fact that's hard to hide, because he is always stumbling, always running into others and knocking pencils and papers off his desk, then proceeding to fall off his chair when he reaches for them with his foot. He trips down staircases and once, even trips going up one. He catches volleyballs with his face and spills his water and drops his textbooks; he is never graceful and never careful. Hinata is a walking disaster, a hurricane disguised as the sun walking on two feet, and he is always falling.

Clumsy is a quirk that Kageyama has associated with Hinata for a long time, and he hates it. It would be different if it was a cute thing, like an occasional stumble or trip that would have the both of them laughing, but it’s not, and it never will be. Hinata falls with the grace of an elephant, which is to say none because there are always scraped knees and bruised shins and elbows, band-aid wrappers that fill the waste bin in Hinata’s room and medical tape that he rips off too fast before any proper healing can get done.

Still, despite the blood and the bruising, it's harmless. Hinata trips and falls, or gets hit with a volleyball, or drops something (usually fragile), and he gets up or picks it up and he laughs it off. The worst Kageyama has seen it is when he fell off his bike, and Kageyama was left dabbing the fat droplets of blood off the scraped skin before slapping a big band-aid on it with stern directions to not rip it off this time.

The point is that Hinata is clumsy, and Kageyama is beyond used to it, so he doesn’t exactly rush to Hinata’s side after he loses his balance and collapses.

They're in the courtyard, and Hinata is fooling around with a baton from one of the color guard girls, attempting to twirl it around his fingers to impress them and failing miserably. Kageyama is suffering as he watches from under a tree next to Hinata’s shoes, volleyball cradled between his arm and hip as he watches with begrudged amusement. 

“Hurry up, dumbass. I wanna get some extra practice in before classes start,” Kageyama calls, and Hinata looks up. He smiles one of those smiles that he only uses on Kageyama when he really wants to get his way, and Kageyama feels his stomach drop to his feet. Hinata holds the baton up while walking over to Kageyama, bare feet dirty from the damp dirt.

“Watch, I'm gonna catch it under my leg,” he says, and Kageyama thinks of what one of the girls did, twirling the baton and throwing it up, lifting her leg high and reaching one arm under it to catch it. There is no way Hinata can do that, and Kageyama tells him that with an eye roll and a sneer to match.

Which is a mistake, because now Hinata is glaring at Kageyama with his eyes dark and his lips pursed, and before Kageyama can tell him to stop, to stop being stupid before he hurts himself, Hinata tosses it. He raises his left leg in the air high and Kageyama’s eyes are stuck staring at the pale skin of his upper thigh where his shorts fall, and he’s too busy staring and thinking about how soft and nice Hinata’s skin looks that he doesn't notice the baton falling back to the ground far, too behind Hinata for him to catch it properly. He doesn't see how Hinata leans back, doesn't see how he loses his balance.

What he does see is Hinata’s leg collapse. he watches it fold underneath him so quickly Kageyama doesn't even know what has happened, can only watch the toes of the foot that are stuck in the dirt curl underneath it before his butt lands right on it.

It’s quiet for a moment, and then Hinata just sits there, in the grass with some weird expression on his face, kind of like the looks he gives Yachi when she tries to explain an algebra formula, eyebrows scrunched together and lips parted slightly. A girl runs over, ignores the baton and grabs Hinata's hand to pull him up, and Hinata smiles and laughs like he usually does when he falls. Except it’s _weird_ , almost, like there’s something lodged in Hinata’s throat and the laugh doesn’t quite fit around it. Kageyama is still stuck in place, watching as Hinata brushes his hands across his legs and back and behind to brush off any grass and dirt that might be clinging to his clothing, and he’s still laughing.

“Wow! I didn't think I would fall like that,” he says nervously, and Kageyama realizes how embarrassed he must be. Hinata looks at him and laughs again, a laugh that's a little more shy, and he points to his shoes. “Can you hand me those, Kageyama?”

Kageyama throws them at him, and Hinata catches them, slips one on his left foot and hesitates with his right before gently pushing it in. Kageyama doesn't miss the way he winces slightly, but he pushes it to the back of his head because Hinata is _fine_ , he always is.

Hinata bids them goodbye with an embarrassed smile, pressing the baton into one girl's hands. They’re tossing it back and forth and doing tricks before Kageyama and Hinata turn away, and Hinata walks a little behind Kageyama the whole walk to the gym.

The entire practice, Hinata is silent. He calls for tosses and hitting them with the accuracy Kageyama expects, and his receives are _good_ , a definite improvement from last week, which is good, but there’s something off, something about the way he lands a jump that isn’t right.

When Hinata passes the ball to him, asking for another toss, Kageyama catches it and holds it.

“Are you okay?” he asks. Hinata looks at him like he’s crazy, and Kageyama wonders if he’s just imagining things.

“Of course I am, now toss to me,” Hinata demands, and Kageyama wants to argue, to fight back, but he can’t.

He throws the ball up in the air.

|||

His foot.

It’s his foot, and Kageyama’s stomach does something weird, like falling and jumping back up again, sending a wave of hurt and realization through him. It’s night, practice is almost at an end, and he watches as Hinata jumps to block the ball that Tanaka tries to spike down, watches as he lands in a way that puts most of his weight on his left foot rather than his right.

He even walks a little weird, when he bends down to pick up the ball. When the weight is on his right foot, he alters his center of gravity, tilting more to the left and putting his weight on the inside of his foot rather than the outside.

Something is wrong.

“You’re hurt,” he says, and Hinata keeps walking, doesn’t stop until Kageyama says his name loudly, which is enough to draw the attention of the others, too, but Kageyama doesn’t _care_. It’s been hours since he fell on his foot, and about three of those hours have been Hinata jumping and landing on it and probably making it worse.

“Me? No, I’m not,” Hinata says.

“Yes, you are,” Kageyama insists, and he presses forward, pointing at his foot. “Your toes, or your foot, or something. You’re hurt.”

Hinata’s eyes widen a little, and Kageyama catches it, but Hinata shakes his head.

“You’re being stupid. I’m totally fine, and you’re just being annoying,” he snaps. 

“Let me see it,” Kageyama says, but Hinata shakes his head and starts to back up. He’s being stupid, so fucking stupid and why can’t he just admit it? Why can’t anyone else see that Hinata is practically limping on the court, landing badly on his foot and denying all of it? Kageyama grabs Hinata by the shoulder to stop him from moving because he's angry, _seething_ , and he's pulling Hinata forward and raising his foot over Hinata’s injured one and pressing down on it befor ehe can really think about it.

In his hold, Kageyama can feel Hinata tense up, and that’s when he realizes what he’s doing. Quickly, he removes his foot and backs away from Hinata, who has his head down and isn’t looking at Kageyama. Others are looking, though, and Kageyama can hear Daichi’s voice, asking everyone what’s wrong, asking Hinata if he’s okay, asking Kageyama what he did.

Kageyama has no words because he didn’t want to do that. He was angry, he still is angry but he just wants Hinata to admit it, to get over himself and sit on the bench and not hurt himself anymore.

“I’m fine.”

Kageyama looks up and Hinata is smiling, brushing a hand through his hair and shrugging it off.

“Kageyama just worries too much,” he adds, and he throws the volleyball up in the air and catches it again. “Can I go back to practicing?”

Daichi nods and Hinata pivots and walks back to Tanaka, tossing the ball to him up over the net and asking if they can work on receives, and all the while Kageyama is stuck watching the limp that is slightly worse than before.

Kageyama watches him for the rest of practice, for the entirety of the half hour that drags on forever. He serves to Nishinoya, who works on his diving, but not even half his focus is there. He is stuck staring at Hinata and his right leg and foot, and how it shakes to support him when he falls on his feet, how he hesitates to put weight on it.

Kageyama may be annoying, but he’s not an idiot, and he knows something is wrong.

In the locker room, Kageyama loiters around until almost everyone is gone. Hinata is just finishing up, slipping on sweatpants over his shorts even though there is still a few weeks before the cold weather really kicks in, and pushing his arms through his jacket. He goes to follow Suga out the door, but Kageyama yanks him back by his arm and shoves him on the bench.

“What are you doing?” Hinata yells and he tries to push Kageyama away, but it’s too late, and Kageyama is yanking his shoe off of his right foot and pulling off his sock and Hinata is screaming for him to get off but it’s too late because now Kageyama can see the damage.

Hinata’s foot is fine, except for his last two toes. There’s bruising already formed, light blue on the front of his foot right before his little toe that seeps to a dark purple on his fourth toe. His pinkie is curled up and swollen and practically black, and Hinata pulls again at his foot.

“Kageyama, let go, I’m _fine_ -”

“This isn’t fine, this is broken, Hinata,” Kageyama says, and Hinata is quiet. Kageyama looks up and realizes Hinata is crying or starting to cry, because his lower lip is starting to wobble and his eyes look too wide and wet, and he covers his face and says something so soft Kageyama has to lean forward to hear it.

“It really hurts,” Hinata is croaking, and Kageyama feels something strike his chest. He thinks of when he stepped on Hinata’s foot _on purpose_ , how much it must have hurt, how hard it must have been to not cry out when it happened.

“It's okay,” Kageyama says, but Hinata shakes his head hard.

Kageyama reaches forward and tries to get Hinata’s other foot, because he can't see exactly _how_ swollen it is without having his normal foot for reference, but Hinata’s other foot is curled up in his lap, sole of his sneaker pressed against his thigh, and Kageyama's fingers brush and dig against his upper thigh while he tries to pull Hinata’s other foot out.

“What are you doing?” Hinata asks as he raises his hand to brush tears away.

Kageyama answers, “I need your other foot,” and Hinata sniffles and extends his other leg.

It is times like these, Hinata sitting on the bench with his thin legs draped over the side and bare feet resting on Kageyama’s thighs as he is hunched over to examine them, that Kageyama realizes exactly how fragile Hinata is. Because Hinata doesn't seem fragile, no, if anything he seems the exact opposite. Hinata is always falling, and he always gets back up, and the one time Kageyama lets him fuck around he ends up getting really hurt and-

“Kageyama?” Hinata asks. Kageyama looks up and Hinata is right there, eyes a little red and cheeks flushed, and there's a tear that's tracing its way into the corner of Hinata’s lips, but Kageyama can't look away from his eyes. They're big, wide and unbelievably bright, and that same feeling of warmth swells in Kageyama’s chest. He looks back down at Hinata’s toe.

Compared to the other, it's definitely swollen. His fourth toe, too, is a bit swelled, and Kageyama puts his hand under the ball of Hinata's normal foot and shifts a little away.

“Press against my hand as hard as you can,” he says, and Hinata does exactly that while Kageyama puts pressure back. He places the same hand on the ball of Hinata's injured foot and nods his head for him to do the same. Hinata tries, presses and presses, but Kageyama can see it hurts, and stops.

“It burns a little,” Hinata says softly, and Kageyama nods.

“You should have sat out at practice,” he says, but Hinata shakes his head.

“I couldn’t,” he insists, “Not with that important match coming up,” he adds quietly, and Kageyama holds his ankle of his injured foot, fingers lightly tracing over his toes, following the splotches of blue and purple and black that cover his skin with the tips of his nails.

“Come over to my house and I can try taping it,” Kageyama suggests, and Hinata sniffs and nods.

“Can I stay the night?” Hinata asks, and Kageyama thinks of Hinata squished in bed with him, unused futon on the floor, of how Kageyama will have to wedge a pillow under Hinata’s foot to keep it elevated. His skin feels a little too hot, and he thinks about what always ends up happening when Hinata spends the night, how his lips find their way on Kageyama’s and how his hands reach under his shirt and sometimes down the waistband of Kageyama’s sweatpants. Kageyama swallows and pushes those thoughts down because Hinata is hurt and it’s highly inappropriate to be thinking of that stuff when he’s still sniffling in front of him.

“Of course you can, idiot,” Kageyama mumbles, pushing his hand through Hinata’s hair. Hinata smiles and leans into the touch, and Kageyama can feel his heart soaring.

The walk to Kageyama’s house is difficult. Hinata uses his bike for support, and now that Kageyama knows about his toe, he doesn’t hide his limp. They’re five minutes away when Kageyama stop, and Hinata stops beside him, leaning all his weight on his uninjured foot. Kageyama is already holding Hinata’s bag, so where he grabs Hinata’s bike and nods at the little wire seat that Hinata has on the back of the bike. Kageyama bikes them home, even though Hinata’s bike is a little small and his knees skim the handlebars when he pedals, because it’s better like this, with Hinata leaning his shoulder against Kageyama’s back as he bikes them to his home, his foot free of any pressure that could injure it further. 

Besides, Kageyama prefers Hinata’s warm breath ghosting across the nape of his neck rather than the cool air of the oncoming winter.

|||

Kageyama’s mother is at work when they’re at home. Kageyama is used to it; his mother works the night shift at the hospital and comes home when Kageyama is heading out to school. She sleeps all day and Kageyama doesn’t see her much, but it’s fine because Saturdays she lets him stay up all night with her and tells him the week full of weird hospital stories, most of which Kageyama passes along to Hinata.

It’s a shame she isn’t here, though, because Kageyama really thinks Hinata should have his foot looked at by someone who knows what they’re doing.

He starts with ice, orders Hinata to lay down on the couch and stuff a pillow under his foot because he thinks that’s that you do with a broken bone. He doesn’t know much else, but he knows ice will help with the swelling, so he gets an ice pack from the freezer. He can hear Hinata talking with his mom on the phone, can hear how he doesn’t say anything about his toe, only that he has a lot of homework and Kageyama agreed to study with him. When he hangs up, Kageyama comes out of the kitchen with the ice pack that’s wrapped up in a towel and places it on Hinata’s little toes.

“Cold,” Hinata says, and Kageyama nods.

“We’ll just keep the ice on for ten minutes, then you can take it off,” he says, and Hinata nods. He lays back on the couch, and Kageyama hands him the remote and lets him pick what to watch (college volleyball) and sits on the ground near Hinata’s head. This is normal, the feel of the couch on his back, the way Hinata’s hand slips into his hair after a few minutes, fingers grasping hair and running down softly until his fingernails trace patterns he can’t read on the back of his neck. Kageyama can feel his spine start to relax, muscles unwinding until his eyes are tired and Hinata is tired, too, breath exhaling small puffs of heat that hit the shell of Kageyama’s ear. 

He zones out, and Hinata stops commenting on the plays, just shifts so he’s laying down. Kageyama is sure his head is blocking the television, but he doesn’t think Hinata cares enough, and before he knows it, it’s darker and he’s too tired to keep his eyes open.

“Let’s go to bed,” Kageyama says. It’s been long, way longer than ten minutes, and the bag of ice on Hinata’s foot is now a sagging bag of water. Kageyama hasn’t even looked at his homework, but he has the whole weekend to do that, so it isn’t that important. It’s dark, and his eyes are burning from staring at the television for too long. Hinata leans on his side when he walks, and when Kageyama doesn’t acknowledge it, he grabs Kageyama’s arm and puts it around his waist and spreads his fingers over his hip.

“Why won’t you help me?” he asks.

“You don’t want my help, you just want me to kiss you,” Kageyama answers, and he can _hear_ Hinata grinning, that bright energy that's tinted with mischief that has his heart soaring.

“For someone as stupid as you, you sure do catch on quick,” Hinata teases. Kageyama opens his bedroom door and pinches his nails into Hinata’s hip before pulling away.

“You’re the stupid one. You broke your toe,” Kageyama grumbles.

“Wow, too soon, Kageyama.” 

Kageyama sits Hinata on the bed and reaches over to turn on the lamp on his desk. He sets up the futon right next to his bed and then throws another pillow at Hinata.

“You can sleep in my bed tonight, so you don't accidentally kick your foot into anything,” he offers. Hinata answers by laying down and rolling over, leaving just enough room for Kageyama beside him. Kageyama can feel his hands shaking, hearts hammering against his ribs as Hinata looks at him with eyes so wide they take up too much of his face. “What if you kick me when you sleep, idiot?”

“You'll forgive me,” Hinata says, and Kageyama can't argue with that, because he will, always has, and will most likely continue to do so. He grabs some medical tape from off his desk, and kneels before Hinata, placing his foot on his knee. Hinata’s toes curl into the fabric of his pants, and Kageyama wraps the tape around his last three toes a few times before standing up.

“I think that’s all I can do. You can’t exactly put a cast on a broken toe,” Kageyama says, and Hinata nods, pulls his sweatshirt off and throws it at Kageyama’s laundry basket, where it folds over the edge. He then reaches out with his arms, hands grabbing in Kageyama’s direction, and Kageyama is pulled towards him, laying down beside him and curling an arm over his torso.

“No amount of affection is going to convince me to let you play with me over the weekend, or at practice on Monday,” Kageyama says, and Hinata just hums against his throat, lips pressing against his skin where his shoulder meets his neck.

“I don’t mind sitting down and watching,” Hinata says. Kageyama can tell it’s a lie, can hear the way Hinata’s voice is low and unenthusiastic about having to sit out.

“We can ask my mom when you can play again. I think it’ll only be a few days,” Kageyama says in consolation, and that seems to cheer Hinata right up because he rolls up on his side and kisses Kageyama right on his lips. Kageyama’s hand spreads over his hip, drawing him in, and Hinata keeps kissing him until his head is dizzy and his lungs are burning for air, and when he pulls away, Hinata rolls on top of him and presses his hips down. Kageyama is spinning, so much that he can’t reach out and steady Hinata fast enough when he accidently puts too much weight on his foot and winces, quickly leaning over on his other side and losing his balance and falling off the bed in a way that is so obnoxious and totally not cute, it sends Kageyama into a fit of laughter.

When Hinata gets back up, the moment is gone, but Kageyama doesn’t mind. He still pulls Hinata into his chest, pushing his nose into curls of hair that smell nice and make him want to breathe in so much air his lungs feel like they’re going to burst. He still wakes up too warm with his hair disheveled and his clothes all wrinkled, finally meeting bright amber eyes that meet his and smile. The only added part of the routine is Hinata’s toe, how he examines it and awkwardly kisses it when Hinata whines about it still hurting, and how Hinata pushes a pillow in his face and tells him to shove it and stop being so cheesy.

(But he smiles, and Kageyama knows he liked it and he pushes Hinata down and grabs his ankle and tries to kiss the bruises again and again until Hinata is laughing so hard there are tears in his eyes.)

|||

Hinata is fine. His toes are back to their normal size and the bruising is only a shadow, and then he falls again.

This time, Kageyama doesn’t stay still. He’s landing from a jump and he lands right on the edge of his foot- the foot with the toes that are still healing, that he had broken just two weeks ago- and he falls on the ground. 

Hinata is saying he's fine and trying to get back on his feet, but Kageyama is pushing him down, pulling off his shoe and pressing on his toes and seeing if it hurts, if there's any ounce of pain. How can one person be so clumsy? How can one boy be so stupid and so careless?

Why does Kageyama even care so much?

"I'm fine, Kageyama," Hinata says. He bends his toes, not wincing or hesitating at all. "I'm seriously fine, I'm alright."

"Okay," Kageyama says, but he can't get that heavy feeling out of his chest. He knows a broken toe isn't even that bad, it's the least painful bone to break, he thinks, other than a finger, maybe. You don't need a cast and the pain and swelling went down in three days, Hinata said. But Kageyama can't help but feel terrible when he remembers how Hinata cried when he couldn't even bend his toes when Kageyama's mother asked him to.

It's horrible to watch your friend get hurt, Kageyama decides, and when they walk home, and Hinata grabs his hand, he holds it and squeezes it so tight until he can feel like he can breathe again.

"I'm fine, Kageyama," Hinata says again, and Kageyama nods, even though he doesn't completely believe it, because Hinata is clumsy, and he will always slip, always fall and nothing can stop him. It's scary, but Kageyama finds comfort in the fact that he'll always have to be there to ensure he picks himself up.

"Yeah," Kageyama says as they reach the part where they split paths, "I know you're alright."

**Author's Note:**

> fun fact i do guard and I broke my toe trying to spin after tossing and it just... didn't end well always wear shoes when spinning a flag.


End file.
